John Francis,
Bruce Peninsula Press
If you think our municipality needs to change, by all means run for council and advocate for that change. Unless, of course, you feel that the current state of affairs disadvantages you personally. Because in that case, you would be in conflict of interest and would have to leave the meeting every time your issue came up.
Imagine you own a wurble manufacturing plant and you feel that the municipality is not treating you fairly. The worst thing you could do is run for council, because every time those wurble-related policies came up for discussion, you’d have to leave the room.
You’d be much more effective if you weren’t on council, because as a private citizen, you can talk to the prospective councillors to find out which ones are most sympathetic to the wurble industry and vote for them.
After they get elected, you can lobby them as often as they’ll put up with. You can feed them all the facts and figures they need and give them the rationale for the change you want.
As a private citizen, you can make presentations to council, explaining what changes are needed. You can ask for things that you could never ask for if you were on council.
And you wouldn’t have to leave the room while council discusses your issue.
